Late Mornings Are The Best Mornings
by mistyarturo
Summary: Emma tries to surprise Regina with a picnic.


As early morning sunlight danced across the floor in bright patterns that bathed the bedroom in a warm glow, Emma rolled over off her stomach and onto her back, her eyes squeezing shut for a few moments in attempt to block out the sunshine that she dreaded every single day, before giving up and slowly began to accept that it was morning once again.

Wiping some drool off the side of her face and pillow, Emma let her head fall to the side to watch Regina, who was still fast asleep, her sheet covered back to the blonde. A smile cracked across the Emma's face as she rolled onto her side and propped herself up on her arm, her head resting in her hand. Regina's hair was messy and tangled beyond the point of return, scattered across her face haphazardly. The steady rise and fall of her chest captured Emma's attention and after a few moments, she found that she had matched her breathing to the sleeping brunette's.

A glance at the clock told Emma that it was almost 9:30 on their lazy Saturday. She had wanted to go out and have a picnic brunch since it got too hot to do anything outside for too long in the afternoon. She slipped out from under the covers as smoothly as possible so as to not disturb Regina. After making sure that her girlfriend was still asleep, she stepped into a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt and pressed a kiss to Regina's forehead before heading downstairs.

Emma had only been puttering around in the kitchen for a couple minutes when she heard feet on the stairs.

Oh Regina, no… go back to bed… Please…

Emma turned toward the doorway, preparing to explain why she was up before noon on a Saturday, but stopped, realizing she wouldn't need to. Henry came wandering in, still half asleep, and took a seat in one of the stools at the counter.

"Morning Emma."

"Good morning Henry. You're up early."

"I heard you come downstairs. I thought there might be pancakes." he cracked a sleepy smile and ran his hands over his face, his elbows resting on the counter.

"Sorry kid, no pancakes here. I was gonna take you guys on a breakfast picnic."

"Ugh… Does that mean I'm gonna have to like… put clothes on and stuff?"

"It's preferred." Emma grinned as Henry let his fall forward to hit the stone countertop with a dull 'thud'. "Go on and get showered kid, I'm gonna wake your mom up soon and you know how long she takes in the bathroom." A low grunt was the only response she got before Henry dragged himself from the counter and back up the stairs.

Going over to the refrigerator, Emma pulled out strawberries, raspberries, half a cantaloupe, and a watermelon, bringing them over to the sink to be rinsed and cut, mixing them all together in a large tupperware container. She brought them over to the island, then, realizing she had never grabbed the picnic basket from the basement, headed to get it. After falling down the stairs, tripping twice, and knocking over a tower of storage boxes, the old wicker basket was back upstairs and the basement door firmly shut along with a silent promise to never go down there ever again.Emma cut and sliced and sizzled until s Emma worked and cut and chopped and sizzled until she heard the water stop running upstairs, then Henry's bedroom door slam slam shut. After finishing what she was doing, she finished what she was doing and headed up the stairs, stopped on her left stopped at the left of the stairs and knocked on Henry's bedroom door.

"What?" he called, obviously unhappy that someone was someone was trying to come in.

"You done in the bathroom?"

"Yes! I am! Now go! I'm changing!" Emma laughed.

"You've got less than an hour!" Emma hit the door once with the side of a fist as she turned and walked across the hall into her and Regina's room. She chuckled to herself as she heard Henry's yelp, then angry muttering.

It was still dark, save for the light that was still fighting to come in around the edges of the window shades. Regina was still fast asleep, lying on her stomach, obviously content to cuddle her pillow forever. It made Emma smile, seeing Regina so relaxed; it didn't happen too often. Regina was often the first up and the last to go to bed. Emma crawled back into bed, sliding her body as close to the sleeping brunette as she could and brushed some hair away from Regina's face. Emma wrapped her arms around Regina's waist and pressed a kiss to her chin, then her neck, then her shoulder before running her lips back up Regina's skin only to start over again, until she finally started to wake up.

"Ngh…"

"Good morning Sleeping Beauty." Emma smiled and kissed Regina's cheek.

"Mmmmmmm…" Regina's voice was hoarse, her vocal chords still warming up for the day. Emma let out a breathy laugh and nuzzled her nose into Regina's hair when she turned and burrowed herself deeper into Emma's embrace. Emma let Regina wake up for a few minutes, tracing light circles across her back until she pulled away just enough that she could look Emma in the eyes.

"I would ask if you slept well but I think I know the answer. Sleep well?" Emma teased before she kissed Regina's nose, then her lips. Regina hummed happily before pulling away and brushing a piece of hair out of Emma's face.

"I slept wonderfully." Regina's face face was blissful. "I needed that." Regina contorted to stretch her back, then rolled back over so that she could press her back into Emma's front so that she could take her place in the blonde's warm arms. "Any particular reason why you're up before noon?" Emma curled her body against Regina's and the brunette settled into it, sleepiness still working its way out of her body, but jumped when she felt Emma's fingers tracing the curve of her ass. "Oh, so that's why…" Regina smirked and pressed herself closer into Emma. The blonde bit her lip and let her fingers flit over Regina's hip and up her stomach.

"That's not what I was going for at first, but you know I wouldn't be opposed to some… other ideas." Emma let her lips touch the back of Regina's neck and breathe warm air that made her shiver.

"Well, what were…" Regina lost her train of thought as Emma continued kissing and touch and distracting her. She forced her brain to function and go back to the words she was struggling to form. "...what was your original plan?" Regina reached behind herself, found Emma's arm, draped it over her hip, and laced their fingers, letting her nails lightly scratch the back of Emma's hand.

"How do you feel about brunch picnics in the park?" Emma's voice was soft now; lower, and soft.

"That sounds like fun." Regina smiled, an image of the three of them relaxing in the park already making her smile and her heart soar.

"I'm glad." Emma kissed the side of Regina's neck, drawing small noises out from the back of her throat as caramel eyes fluttered shut.

"I should go finish…" Emma saw where Regina was going and stopped her, turning Regina in her arms and kissing her passionately and in a way that made Regina question whether she ever wanted to leave her bed again. Regina pulled away for air and rolled herself on top of Emma, kissing her with all teeth, all passion, and no room for question.


End file.
